The Peacemaker
by Sokkasm
Summary: At the start of the Industrial Revolution, Roy Mustang and his men are against the Royals, who have complete control over the country, and neglect it's citizens. Becoming pirates was enough of a challenge, with a large bounty over their heads, but things become more complicated when the crew rescues two orphans.
1. Chapter 1

**I am writing another thing. Sorry, not sorry. This is an au, which came about when I couldn't draw one of Alphonse's eyes, so I simply drew an eyepatch over it. So, depending on how popular, or if it has a high demand, I'll continue writing it. (I do have a plot, and a written outline.) If you have questions, don't be afraid to ask. Enjoy!**

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The sky in the distance was a deep umber orange, underlayed with rich crimson tones. The clouds above the yellow wisps were jet black, like thunderstorm clouds tended to look like. Something was off, however. The waves were calm and the wind was practically non existent, so it could not have been storming near.

It was midday, and it really made no sense the sky would be colorful as if it was sunrise or sunset. That left only one explanation; there was an enormous fire burning on land. Jean Havoc dropped his cigar and made his way clumsily up the deck stairs and to the steering wheel. "Falman!" He exclaimed while looking at the fiery shore. "Where is Mustang?" It was not uncommon for the navigator to take over steering when the captain wasn't present, but it was common courtesy to let the quartermaster know where he would be in case of an emergency.

"He went to get lunch a few minutes ago." After giving Falman a quick nod, Jean made his way down two sets of stairs, and across a short hall to the kitchen.

"Captain." He stood rigid in front of the doorway, waiting patiently for his superior to give the signal that it was okay to speak. Mustang put his fork down and finished swallowing his food.

"What is it?"

"There's a large fire burning five miles due east."

"Is it the Royal's work?"

"It's hard to tell, but it might be." Mustang took a sip of his tea, and grinned.

"Well, there's no harm in checking it out. Tell Falman to plot a course for the fire, full steam ahead. I'll be up when I'm done." Jean nodded his head to the captain, and made his way back up to the main deck. By the time he reached Falman, everyone else on the ship had noticed the blazing fire in the near distance.

"The captain ordered us to check it out." Jean called down from the lower deck, and Falman waved a hand to signal he understood. Within minutes, the crew hastily scrambled about to set sail towards the burning town.

Mustang emerged from the hull of the ship when land was finally approachable. By the time they reached the village, the fire had considerably died down. Everyone boarded a dinghy and prepared to attack the enemy in case anyone was still around.

The smoky air smelled pungent and rotten; a blend of burnt wood, weeds, and flesh. The silence was heavy and eerie, not even the bugs or birds made a sound. Gray ash was blending in with the sand, making a snowlike cover over the land. Whoever had caused the catastrophe was no longer here.

"Search for survivors and meet back here in an hour." Mustang motioned to the dock, so everyone was clear on the meeting point. Everyone went their separate way to see if they could find any sign of life, or evidence of who burned the village.

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Roy was thrilled when they reached shore and had a chance to fight the Royals. The only problem was that nobody was there to greet him. The town was empty and null of life.

The feeling in his gut told him this was the work of the Royals. Maybe the villagers couldn't pay all of their taxes. Perhaps a soldier had a grudge against someone who lived within the town, and decided to take it out on all of them. It was hard to tell the reason, but the Royals could get away with anything.

That was exactly why Roy and his team split away from the military; so escape the corrupt system and help the repressed citizens as often as they could. When news of the town's demise reached other people, the blame would no doubt be put on Roy. It was easy enough to accuse a pirate, after all.

Roy spotted a horseshoe laying in a patch of smoldered grass. He picked it up and carefully inspected it, looking for any familiar marks or designs. Right on the toe of the shoe, there was a small engraving of a three-tipped crown; the insignia of the Royals. Normally, this wouldn't have been sufficient evidence, but the town, Risembool, was not under the Royal's control, and they had no business to be there.

The shoe was only a foot away from a well-used path, from the looks of it, heading outside of the village limits. It looked like it was a fresh trail, and Roy knew it was the path the Cavalry had taken to exit Risembool. With the horseshoe in his pocket, Roy turned to head back to the boat, until something caught his eye.

Next to a destroyed house, there was a crumbling wooden barn. But he could have sworn he saw movement in one of the windows. Figuring there was no harm in checking it out, Roy cautiously walked to the demolished barn.

The inside was fairly bright, given the roof was falling apart and letting the sunlight come in. Random pieces of wood occasionally fell from the sides and added to the ash covered floor. Perhaps his eyes had been playing tricks on him, or maybe it was only a mouse. As he made a move to leave the unsteady building, Roy swore he heard a muffled cry.

He stopped in his tracks and turned his head to locate the cause of the noise, which sounded like it came from the corner of the barn that was destroyed. Even squinting his eyes, it was difficult for Roy to make anything out in the darker part of the building.

Out of nowhere, a fist-sized rock went flying through the air, missing Roy's head by several inches. He went into defensive mode, holding his hand in a snapping position, in case he had to perform flame alchemy.

"Go away!" Roy cocked his head and took a few steps closer towards the voice. It sounded like a child. A few seconds later, his suspicions were confirmed when he saw a young boy menacingly waving a broken stud around in the air. "I mean it!" Roy couldn't help but chuckle, and he knelt down on his knee to get a better look at the child.

What he saw was not all that surprising, but it still created a knot in his heart. The boy was holding a hand over his left eye, which was bleeding quite profusely. Next to him was a woman, their mother perhaps, but by judging her ghastly wounds, she was most certainly dead. Beside the mother, there was another boy, but it was hard to tell if he was alive yet.

"Don't worry, I'm here to help." Roy spread his hands in the universal gesture of surrender. The boy dropped his makeshift weapon and used his empty hand to grasp his eye. Roy held out a hand, which the boy reluctantly grabbed, and pulled the child out of the debris. "Hurry up now, we have to leave."

"What about my brother?" Dealing with children so young was not something Roy knew how to do. It seemed a bit odd the boy didn't address his mother; unless he already realized there was nothing they could do for her.

"They're both dead." He put bluntly. They needed to leave before the entire barn fell down, and there was no time for desensitizing. "We need to go."

"Not without Brother!" The stubbornness of the child was infuriating, and if they didn't leave soon, they would be crushed from the debris. With a sigh, Roy leaned down again and looked into the boy's golden eye.

"What is your name?"

"A-alphonse." He stuttered and averted his glance to a spot on the floor.

"Well, Alphonse, I am sorry for your loss. If we don't get out of here, you will be dead, too." It was blunt, rash, but most importantly, true. Alphonse had to understand that, or he'd be doomed to death by being crushed.

At the most inconvenient of times, the boy laying next to the mother whimpered and groaned. "Please save my brother, mister." Alphonse looked into Roy's eyes and pleaded; he was practically on the verge of tears.

"Wait outside, and stay put." The little boy obliged and hurriedly dashed out of the barn. Once he was out of view and into safety, Roy crouched and moved closer to the child who was trapped underneath a support beam. "Stay still." He commanded, not that he expected the boy to be conscious enough to understand what he was saying.

The situation did not look promising; the boy's right leg was crushed, twisted at odd angles, and bleeding a dark ruddy color. If he managed to survive through that much blood loss, he'd be a cripple for the rest of his life. Still, if he managed to save the brother, at least Alphonse would not be alone.

Roy lifted the beam that was crushing the child, and he quickly grabbed one of his arms and pulled him out before the beam could fall back down. Getting the boy out in such a harsh way was not not a smart decision, but it was all he had time for.

"Mom." The boy grumbled and reached a hand for his mother. Roy scooped him in his arms and carried him out of the barn. The mumbles increased, and the boy sounded angrier the farther away they went from his mom. "Mom!" It was impressive he could holler with such ferocity when he was so gravely injured. Alphonse was patiently waiting outside like he was told, and he looked horrified when he saw what type of shape his brother was in.

Without hesitation, Roy set the injured boy on a patch of blackened grass, and he tore off a large piece of his blue cloak. He wrapped it tightly around the boy's leg to cut off the circulation, then he easily carried both boys over his shoulder so he could make his way back to the ship as soon as possible. The brother, whose name he didn't know, started to hit Roy on the back of his neck, while crying out for his mother. The barn came crashing down, causing both boys to shriek.

"I'll drop you if you keep doing that." The boy was starting to get on his nerves with the constant hitting and yelling. That threat did not work in the slightest, if anything, it made matters worse.

"Captain!" Hawkeye called out and waved her hand when Roy was in view. He let out a breath of relief and quickened his pace so he could set the brothers down. Most of the black smoke that acted as a cover for Risembool had dissipated into the air, and the fires died down considerably. Occasionally, there were loud crashes from surrounding buildings falling down.

"Knox," Roy set the injured boy carefully in the ship's doctor's hands. "Take care of him first." Konx nodded, boarded the dinghy, and went to the ship as fast as he could so he could treat the boy's injuries right away. "Were there any other survivors?"

"Not that we know of, sir." Hawkeye replied solemnly.

"I thought as much. Once Knox takes care of the boys, we'll have to quicken our pace to make up all this lost time."

"Sir, what is your plan?" All eyes fell on him, even Alphonse's one uninjured eye. The young boy looked helpless and in a daze, and one little hand was grasping the fabric of Hawkeye's cape.

"As soon as they're both recovered, we'll send them to an orphanage up north."

"Sir…" Alphonse burrowed his face into the cloak, but Hawkeye didn't seem to mind there would now be a large bloodstain on her cerulean blue cloak.

"We don't have time or the means for raising two little brats."

"Sir, you realize what would happen if you sent them to an orphanage? We both know his brother will have no use of his leg." Hawkeye spoke quietly and calmly, while patting Alphonse's head. "He'll be a cripple. No one wants a deformed child, and you know he will be separated from his brother. Do you want that to happen?"

"They'll have to learn sooner or later the world is not a fair place. Might as well start now." As soon as the words slipped from his mouth, he knew he made a mistake. Hawkeye looked irate, and it seemed like she wanted to shoot him for saying such a thing.

"As soon as they reach adulthood, sir," the way she spoke was venomous and frightening, so Roy moved his gaze from anywhere but her eyes. "they'll leave the orphanage and live on the streets. Then they'll be nothing more but beggars and thieves. An absolute waste for society."

"What would you have me do?"

"We can provide for them much more adequately than any Royal orphanage, sir."

"By what? Condemning them to be pirates and criminals at an early age?"

"They both will become criminals, no matter what happens." Deep in his heart, Roy knew it was true. People wanted to adopt able-bodied children that were capable of doing farm work; no one wanted a disabled child.

"Fine, bring them with us. I am not taking care of them, and they will be in no way my responsibility. Understand?"

"Yes, sir. Fuery!" The boatswain of the ship hurried over to see what Hawkeye needed. "You will be in charge of the children."

"Yes, ma'am!" That was how things worked; there was no arguing or fighting, for the most part. Everyone followed Mustang and Hawkeye's orders with no backlash, and it was a system that worked well for them. Once Fuery ushered Alphonse towards the rest of the crew to make introductions, Roy could finally tell Hawkeye about his discovery, and he pulled the horseshoe out of his pocket.

"This is from the Royal cavalry; I know they were here. They nearly killed everyone off, but I don't know why."

"Should we tell the brothers?"

"No. We'll save that for another time, when they are ready. I want them to learn why the Royals are evil, but I don't want them to blindly hate the military. Also, we need to restock our coal supplies soon, otherwise we'll be running solely on wind power. I don't want to be vulnerable at sea if there is no wind."

"Yes, sir. I hope you realize your decision to keep this a secret from the boys may come back to haunt you." Mustang clenched his fist, and looked at the sparkling blue ocean.

"I know."


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter brought to you by: my friends. Thank you all for the reviews, and keep them coming.**

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It was all too much to take in. A lot happened in the past few hours, and Al was still frightened and jumpy. The people who rescued him were kind, and he felt like he could trust them. He didn't know if his brother would be okay; there had been a lot of blood.

The sky was now clear blue, the last remnants of the smoke from the massive attack vanished with the wind. Once the wind began to pick up, the ocean became dotted with white-crested waves. A flock of seabirds flew overhead, making a much needed break in the silence.

Near the ship, Al could see three small boats making their way to the shore. They moved swiftly through the tumbling waves, and swarms of birds continued to fly above. "There's a storm approaching." The youngest person in the crew, Fuery, explained to Al. "We'll try making it to base before it hits, don't worry." This was the man who would be taking care of Al for now. He seemed friendly enough, so Al was okay with it. Right now, the only thing he cared about was the well-being of his brother. "Okay, in you go." Fuery lifted Al carefully by looping his arms under the boy's armpits, then set him down gently in the small dinghy.

Al played in the ocean all the time, as there wasn't much else to do in their small seaside village. Despite being right next to the water for his whole life, he had never ridden in a boat before, and neither had his brother. Being in the dinghy was not bad, but upon seeing the size of the ship, the thought of boarding it was rather intimidating.

The ship's wood was stained a deep red color, with the word 'Peacemaker' painted in black letters across her side, and several cannon slots were lined across the hull. Several ropes were tossed down from above when the lifeboat went into the correct position, and Fuery looped the metal hooks on the ends of the rope through the metal bars on the side of the dinghy.

They were pulled onto the deck, and Alphonse let out an awed gasp; the deck was even more impressive than he imagined. The masts were enormous, and it most likely looked even more impressive when the sails were opened. Amazingly, Al saw something he thought he would never see on a ship; a tall, coal-black smoke stack in the center of the deck. It was a steam-powered sail ship, the best money could buy.

The only time he had seen a ship like it before was when Granny Pinako took him, Ed, and Winry to Central for a weekend trip, where they visited the Royal port. These kinds of ships belonged to the Navy, but he didn't think these people were from the military. They wore plain clothes that were typical of the higher middle class, which bore no military pins.

Al didn't know much about boats and the Royals, but he did know having a ship equipped with such heavy artillery and the design itself was illegal to own unless you were military personnel. There was no flag with a military crest flying overhead, or any flag at all.

"How are you feeling?" Al still had a hand pressed firmly over his eye, and he could still feel a slight trickle of blood flowing through his fingers.

"It hurts."

"I'm sorry." Fuery lowered his voice when they stepped down the metal stairs into the bowels of the ship. "We only have one doctor, and he's really busy now, I'm afraid." Al knew the doctor was working with his brother, who needed more help than he did. "Hey, are you hungry?"

"Yes, sir." Al responded with a dull voice. He wanted to see his brother, or better yet, travel back through time so he could have found a way to prevent the barn from falling down in the first place.

"You can call me by my first name when the captain isn't around, if you like. He's just a pushover." Fuery knelt and held out his hand. "My name is Kain." Al held up his small hand, but retreated it when he saw it was covered in blood.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"It's okay." Kain kept his hand out, so Al grabbed it.

"I'm Al."

"Here," Kain was searching through his pockets and pulled out a bandana. "Use this so you can have both of your hands free." For the first time, Al let both of his hands go so Kain could wrap the cloth around his head, which did a sufficient job covering his injured eye.

Kain pushed a door open, which had a worn out painting of a sailfish nailed in the center of it. The strong scent of cooked fish filled the air, which nearly caused Al to salivate. "What have we here?" The new, deeper voice caused Al to jump, and he spun his head so his good eye could see where the voice came from. The new person was a large young man, and he was flipping fish on the stovetop.

"This is Al, and he will be staying with us for a while. Al, this is Heymans Breda, the finest cook on the sea." As Kain introduced him, Heymans stuffed a piece of shrimp in his mouth.

"Hello." Heymans managed to say while he gulped down the steaming food. Al meagerly waved a hand while eyeing the freshly cooked food. "Oh, Fuery, we ran out of water. Tell the captain we need to acquire more, unless he plans on drinking wine for the next month."

"Of course." Before Kain could make his way to the door, Mustang walked in the cafeteria.

"Speak of the devil." Heymans muttered under his breath.

"Fuery, I need you for a moment." Mustang crossed his arms and looked at their newest inhabitant of the ship.

"Yes, sir. Alright, Al, you stay here with Breda. I'll be back soon." Al nodded his head, then started to eat up the food the cook offered him. Once he was settled, Kain slipped out of the kitchen area and into the hallway with Mustang.

"How is the boy doing?"

"Fine, I suppose. He seems fairly shy and scared. I think he is worried about his brother, and I think everything that happened today is starting to sink into him."

"Yes, that is expected. His brother isn't faring as well, I'm afraid." Mustang scratched his chin, like he was thinking, but unsure of what to do. "It needs to come off."

"Uh, sir?"

"The boy's leg needs to be amputated, or he will die from infection."

"But we're all out of medical supplies." Kain pointed out; the entire ship was running low on everything. As soon as they reached base, they could restock enough supplies in order to pillage a Royal ship.

"Yes, I am aware. Come with me, I think it will help the boy if there are more people around." Kain obediently followed his superior into the makeshift doctor's room and braced himself. The place smelled like metal, sweat, and blood, which was normal, since this particular room had not been scrubbed down in several weeks.

Suddenly, Kain realized no one knew what the child's name was. He was simply referred to as "Al's brother', or, 'the boy'. It would be nice to know his name before they started the procedure, but he was unconscious, so they couldn't ask him anyway.

Kain noticed Al had a tanned skin tone, which was not uncommon for Southern Amestris. His brother, however, had much darker skin, as if they were not natives of Amestris at all. They both seemed to be from somewhere closer to the desert.

The boy was laying down on a small, wooden bench, which had a thick blanket thrown on it for padding. His right leg was mangled, twisted at odd angles, and it was covered with dark blood. The kid's breathing was rapid, and he looked like he was going to be sick.

"Should we wake him up?"

"No need, he'll be awake in a few seconds whether he wants to be or not." Doctor Knox sardonically replied while getting his few tools ready. "Captain, grab me my bonesaw. Fuery, fetch me some towels." Both men hurried to grab the designated supplies; here, the doctor was in charge and he gave all of the orders, trumping even the captain.

They didn't have drugs to help ease the pain. Sure, they had alcohol, but it would most likely end up being lethal giving the boy enough whiskey to make him feel nothing. Since they were left with nothing at all to dumb down the upcoming excruciating pain, they could only hope the boy wouldn't die from shock.

Kain grabbed a thick piece of leather from a counter, along with several unused dark towels. He hurried over to the boy's side so they could quickly get the operation over with. Using one of the smaller towels as a tourniquet, Kain tied it directly under the boy's knee, and right above where Knox would be performing the amputation. "Does this look good?" He asked to make sure it was tight enough.

"That'll do. I am going to start now." The doctor stated when Mustang gathered the few necessary tools onto a small table next to the bench. Kain knelt down in order to be eye level with the child, and he grabbed his small hand. The boy's eyes flickered open, which were just as golden as his brother's.

"Here you go, bite on this." Kain moved the leather towards the boy's mouth, but he didn't bite down. Instead, he seemed to realize what was happening and turned his head away with a shriek. "Come on, you have to do this. Your brother is waiting across the hall." That seemed to peek the boy's interest and he moved his head to look at Kain.

"My brother? Is he okay?"

"He will be fine, but you can't see him until you're all better."

"No, you have to help him now! This is all my fault, please, help him first."

"Sorry, little guy," Mustang spoke up, eyeing the saw on the table. The boy twitched his eyes when the captain spoke, but before he could say anything, Mustang interrupted. "but you have far more severe injuries than your brother. Understand?" The boy blankly stared while twiddling his fingers together. After a few seconds of silence, Mustang lost his patience and grew tired of waiting for a response. "Alright, then, time to take it off."

"What?!" The child squeaked, then held up his hands defensively. "No, stay away from me!" He tried to drag himself away, but only succeeded in nearly falling off the bench, which would have further injured him.

"The captain is an idiot." Knox mumbled so only Kain could hear him.

"You're going to have to calm down while we do this, or you'll die." Instead of calming down the child, he seemed to go in hysterics, with tears rolling down his face.

"Captain." Knox said with a heavy tone, then he raised a hand and thumped Mustang on the back of his head. "Stop being an utter moron." A bit hurt, the captain stepped aside and wisely stopped talking. The doctor turned all of his attention to his patient, and he ignored his sulking superior.

"It's okay, boy, you'll be fine. You're leg is too smashed up to save, and we have to get rid of it, understand?" The child nodded his head measly, but he still tried to inch away from the medical table. "I'm not going to lie, this will hurt a lot, but once it's over, you'll get better."

"I'm going to be sick." It wasn't all that shocking, especially for someone who had never been on a ship before, plus the fact his leg was a mangled mess. So when he gagged and puked on the bench, no one was surprised and they worked around it. Kain was holding the boy's hand yet to help keep him still; he couldn't believe such a small child could squeeze so tight.

"How does your leg feel now?" Knox questioned while grabbing the saw.

"I-I don't feel it." The boy stammered, the pitch of his voice increased with every word.

"Good, this won't be so bad. You're going to need that." Knox pointed to the strip of leather the boy had knocked down earlier. "We don't want you to bite your tongue off, now do we?" Eagerly, the boy grabbed the strip and stuck it between his teeth, then bit down.

"Are you ready?" The boy nodded again and stared at the ceiling, this time, without fidgeting. Mustang moved to the other side of the bench, so he'd be out of the way, but close enough in case he was needed.

Kain squinted his eyes, not really wanting to look at the leg, but his curiosity got the best of him. The boy's foot was bent at a ninety degree angle, just above his ankle. He could see bits of bone through the flesh and blood closer to the knee, which made him feel queasy, so he adverted his eyes back on the poor boy's face. The hand squeezed tighter when the faint sawing sound began.

Immediately, the boy swung his other hand around and clutched onto Mustang's arm, making him grunt in surprise. With every little sound of the blade sawing through the leg, both Kain and Roy cringed, and they could feel the boy's strong grip increasing. The child groaned, but his screams of agony were muffled by the leather stuffed in his mouth.

After several minutes, which seemed more like hours, the boy lost consciousness as Knox finished cutting off the destroyed limb. The boy's grip went slack and his hands fell to his sides, so Kain seized his opportunity by helping Knox tie the towels and bandages around the gushing wound.

"Do you need me to-" Mustang started to ask, but he was stopped by Knox.

"No. Wouldn't want to burn the ship by accident. Now we wait and see how he copes; if he's strong enough, he'll pull through this with no problems. I need to check on his brother, if you two don't mind."

Quickly, the two men left the room and made their way to the cafeteria. "Al?" Kain asked since the boy wasn't sitting at a table in sight.

"We're in here." Heymans' muffled voice called from inside the kitchen. Mustang sat down at a table and ate a heavily bruised apple while Kain pulled the kitchen door open. Heymans and Alphonse were peeling the last of the ship's potatoes, which wasn't a large amount, for their supper a few hours later.

"The doctor wants to see you now, Al."

"My brother; is he okay?" Al's head peeked up and he lowered his paring knife, nearly dropping the potato.

"He should recover normally, but it is going to take some time. You should be worried about yourself right now."

"Can I see him?"

"Maybe later, after you are checked, alright?"

"Okay." Kain gave Al a gentle pat on the back and escorted him back to the doctor's room. Knox was waiting, and he opened the door as soon as Kain knocked, ushering Alphonse inside. There was a large sheet sectioning of part of the room, no doubt that's where Al's brother was.

"Before I check you, would you mind answering a few questions?"

"Sure." The boy responded passively, and Kain decided to stay with him so he wouldn't feel as lonely.

"How old are you?"

"I'm eight, and Edward is nine." Al's gaze moved to the blanket that divided the room, and he balled up a bit of his shirt into his hands.

"Edward is your brother?" Al nodded his head slightly and he looked back at the doctor. "Don't worry, he should get better in a few weeks. When he's conscious, we'll let you see him, okay?

"Okay." He sported a small smile, which made both men feel better. Hopefully, things would be going their way in the strenuous weeks to come.


End file.
